After a furious two weeks of tennis coverage during the Australian Open, things were understandably more subdued in the tennis world last week. With no WTA events on the docket, the women dispersed all over the globe to play Fed Cup. Meanwhile, ATP players took their talents to Montpellier, Quito, and Sofia. Week five of the 2016 season also brought some eye-opening announcements: the welcomed returns of Juan Martin Del Potro, Ashleigh Barty, and Juan Monaco; and the not-so-small matter of Roger Federer's knee surgery.

Belinda Bencic - The world #11 won three matches as Switzerland beat Germany, including a key reverse singles win against Australian Open champion, Angelique Kerber.

Caroline Garcia - MVP of France's 4-1 win over Italy. ​The world #38 won all three of her matches in straight sets (Giorgi, Errani, Caregaro/Errani in doubles).

Karolina Pliskova - The defending champions were in danger of going out in the first round with Petra Kvitova losing both her singles matches. However, Pliskova's three wins, including a big opening 3-set tussle with Simona Halep, ensured the Czechs will move on to face Switzerland.

Kiki Bertens - The upset of the week saw Russia crash out of the tournament at the hands of Kiki Bertens and her Netherlands teammates. She went 2-0 in singles, beating both Makarova and Kuznetsova in straight sets.

Venus Williams - The #2 American improved her career Fed Cup record to 19-2 with two more wins this weekend.

​SPOTLIGHT

​Venus Williams and Martina Hingis played key roles in victories by the United States and Switzerland teams in Fed Cup last week. Both players excelled as they aimed to fulfill Olympic eligibility requirements for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Who would have thought they'd both still be competing for gold medals 19 years after playing in the 1997 U.S. Open final? Yet, Williams is still a force in singles, and Hingis is in the midst of one of the all-time great runs of success on the doubles circuit, ranked #1 alongside Sania Mirza. What Williams and Hingis have achieved in the past 12 months is nothing short of remarkable.

​Ashleigh Barty announced her return to the WTA Tour last week. You might recall that Barty stepped away from the game at 17 to try her hand at cricket in the local leagues of Australia. Still only 19, the 3-time Grand Slam doubles finalist has decided to give tennis a go again. Barty tells WTA Insider, Courtney Nguyen, that her success in tennis came too quickly for her. Maybe she'll find even more success this time around. Maybe her tennis career will never truly develop. Maybe Barty will return to cricket at some point, or do both. Whatever comes her way, Barty seems determined to decide things on her own terms this time around. Her announcement is a wonderful bit of news to cap a great week of women's tennis.

PRESS
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Q. This is not so much a question. I am going to break press protocol and probably get kicked out of here right away. I would like to say to Venus Williams, what a great thing to have you here, and just a big, big thank you for everything that you've done for tennis through the years. Great tennis ambassador, and I think it's a great treat, especially for the local kids this afternoon who get to come out. Thank you, thank you for being here. Can't tell you how exciting it is. CoCo Vandeweghe, what a great Australian Open. Mixed doubles final. I think very cool. To the rest of you, what I would liked to, since I am breaking press protocol, what is the question you most hate the media to ask you?

BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: I think there is just a lot of repetitive questions asked. I'm still surprised people don't know that I wear knee high socks for compression. I feel like I've answered that in every single interview I've given for the last four years, and still people are still surprised that I don't just wear them for fashionable reason. They're actually for compression purposes.

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SLOANE STEPHENS: I think the most annoying question has to be what is the state of U.S. women's tennis. That's all. That's like in every press conference, every interview.

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: I get that one a lot, too. Same topic. You get the same answer because everybody is working hard, everybody is trying, and everybody is trying to make that next move.

You're right. We get that all the time.

VENUS WILLIAMS: What's it like playing your sister? It's like 20 years later. Haven't you seen us play? What do you think? Kind of draw your own conclusion at this point.

COCO VANDEWEGHE: I would agree, definitely what's the state of American tennis, but also, especially after a loss, why did you lose?

Dustin Brown - SF, Montpellier (The German-Jamaican reached his first career ATP semifinal)

Renzo Olivo - QF, Quito (Made it through qualifying and took out Verdasco before losing to eventual champion, Estrella Burgos)

John Millman - QF, Montpellier (After a third round showing in Melbourne, Millman continues his rise and is now ranked #66)

Alexander Zverev - SF, Montpellier (The 18-year-old took out Marin Cilic on his way to the semis, achieving yet another career high ranking in the process at #70)

SPOTLIGHT
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​Week five was a banner week for the three titlists on the ATP Tour. Richard Gasquet and Victor Estrella Burgos both defended titles from a year ago, while Roberto Bautista Agut continued his outstanding form to begin 2016 with a second trophy on the year. In fact, 2016 has been the year of title defences thus far: Wawrinka, Troicki, Gasquet, Estrella Burgos, and Djokovic. Gasquet, playing in his first tournament of the year (withdrew from the Australian Open due to injury), burst out of the gate to claim his third Open Sud de France, and 13th title overall of his career.

​Estrella Burgos, 35, now owns two career ATP titles and is 10-0 in Quito. An early loss would have seen him struggling to remain in the top 100. Instead, Estrella Burgos holds steady at #56 and make the rest of his year considerably easier. As for Bautista Agut, he simply cannot stop winning in 2016. He's now 13-2 (Berdych, Coric), and his list of victims include: Sock, Troicki, Cilic, Tsonga, and Isner. Having never advanced past the fourth round of a Slam, his form thus far suggests 2016 might be his year.

MY 2 CENTS
​Ashleigh Barty's return to tennis wasn't the only good news in tennis last week. Juan Martin Del Potro announced that he was ready to mount another comeback after recovering from his third wrist surgery. The Argentine has reached the semifinals of all four Slams,won the 2009 U.S. Open, and holds a career high ranking of #4. When healthy, Del Potro is easily a top 10 talent, and has shown an ability to beat the game's best players in big moments. But, one needs only look at his (lack of) appearances at Slams over the last few seasons to get a full grasp of the toll injuries have taken on his career: if he is able to play Roland Garros, it will be his first Slam since the 2014 Australian Open.

Simply put, it's wonderful to have Del Potro back, and I wish him an extended period of good health.